August 1997 has a CET of 18.9C, making it second in the CET series. However, it rarely gets mentioned.

My recollection of the month is that it was exceptionally humid with lots of high minima. There were also some quite violent thunderstorms.

Although it was only 0.3 short of August 1995, it was nothing like as good a summer month, which is why the CET can be misleading.

Remember it well. I did an Open Univeristy summer school in Nottingham between about the 8th and 15th and nearly melted with 30C+ by day and mins overnight no lower than 18C. It certainly was a week for being outside until midnight - very sociable.

I was in Cyprus that time but when I arrived back to Heathrow it was almost the same amount of warmth after leaving Larnaca airport in the evening and arrived here early in the morning when it was 20C minimum.  Best to forget it because after arriving home to see the garden well over grown and too green from too much rain.

Incredible that was. The CET was exceptionally high - But as someone alluded to - It was the very high minimums which pulled that month close to a record.

The month of my birth.

Amazing that the second warmest August on record came just two years after the warmest on record. Its very high CET has always interested me, especially since it followed on from a very poor first half of summer. Summer 1997 is about as back-loaded as summers come.

Apparently there were some great thunderstorms in the Manchester area on the evening of the 10th (about the time I was born) and again from an MCS on the 12th.

It was the year I got married. 

Bloody he'll. Where does the time go?

I remember coming home and being surprised at what I heard about the weather. The days before mass internet (though even back then I was looking at the wxmaps 10-dayers and Unisys GFS output...)

Overrated that month, believe it or not it was wetter than August 2012.

The only thing I really remember about the month is the death of Princess Diana. Little thunder. The only report of thunder in my diary was the 28th and that was an odd rumble. 

Nothing in my diary, I recall storms to my west towards Merseyside on the 10th.

August 1997 was the dogs bollox.  The golf courses around Christchurch were yellow and the ball moved like lightning off the ground.

Says something about the nature of the rainfall: I would guess mostly convective, so coastal areas dry and inland wet.

Snap. Was on honeymoon in April/May in the Maldives watching Tony Blair getting elected PM. Oh such days of hope and promise (on all fronts)...

I remember it well we had two other good spells 1994/95  or was it 95/96?

Yes the maximum CET that year was 23.7C which is the 4th warmest but 1.4C lower than 1995 which holds the record

The minimum CET was 14.0C and was easily the highest on record. 1995 is in third with 13.3C.

That when i came back from Cyprus and to find the park was flooded with sewage as there was many pads on the grass left behind.  It was flooded due to the large sewage pipe running underneath it and push half of the man hole cover off, it 2 triangle lid type and half came off and dropped down but not in to the pipe but resting on the ledge, so it was dangerous for any one walking into the hole or animals if not seen.  It was left open until Autumn when i can see steam coming out during cold mornings but eventually they came to recover the lid and closed it again. 

Sunshine for Central SE England

August 1997: 187.3hrs

August 1998: 257.0hrs

Rain days

August 1997: 10.3

August 1998: 4.3 days

Rainfall

August 1997: 92.2mm

August 1998: 20.7mm

So was August 1997 really that good at least for that part of England?